


How Do You Know?

by stellarmeadow



Series: Summer 2013 Prompts [3]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Eavesdropping, Established Relationship, Fluff, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-25
Updated: 2013-06-25
Packaged: 2017-12-16 03:06:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/857053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarmeadow/pseuds/stellarmeadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny eavesdrops on Steve and Grace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How Do You Know?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [simplyn2deep](https://archiveofourown.org/users/simplyn2deep/gifts).



> From a prompt by simplyn2deep - "Steve and Danny over hear the other talking with Grace abt when they knew it was love" Thank you for the prompt!! :):)
> 
> ~~~

Danny juggled his keys and two grocery bags until he could unlock the door without dropping anything. He managed to get the door open, kicking it shut behind him. Neither Steve nor Grace were around, which meant they were either swimming, or off getting into trouble he'd only find out about when the mess was discovered. He'd long since stopped giving them a hard time about it unless something exploded (okay, so it was only the one time) or caught fire (a few times was a few too many for Danny's liking).

He put the groceries away and looked out the window, but there was no sign of either of them, so he headed for the garage. He could hear the tell tale clink of tools as he neared the door, a familiar sound of Steve messing with the engine on the Marquis.

Steve called her his 'work in progress.' Danny called her 'the mistress' because whenever Danny was around, the car was a complete bitch. He'd had to stop riding in the car with Steve after the fifth time they'd been stranded when she'd been previously been 'purring like a kitten' until Danny had gotten into the car. 

Grace already had that gleam about driving her in a couple of years. Danny was not having it. 

He started to push the door open, but stopped when he heard Grace say, "--about Dad?"

"Hm?" Steve replied. Danny knew that distracted sound--Steve wasn't listening. 

"How did you know about Dad?"

"What about him?"

Grace made that impatient noise that Danny was far too familiar with. "How did you know that you were in love with him?"

Danny heard a tool hit the concrete garage floor. "Uh...is there a boy you want to tell me about?"

From the sound of Steve's voice, Danny might need to remind him later that immunity and means didn't extend to actual firearms anywhere near teenage boys who were not committing actual crimes. 

Not that they couldn't insinuate, mind you. But it was always wise to lay down the boundaries with Steve.

"Stop deflecting," Grace said.

"What, you're fifteen, so you're a shrink now?" Steve said. "And since you know what deflecting is, I assume you know you just did the same thing?"

Grace made the impatient noise again. "Steve."

The long silence indicated the two of them were having one of their infamous stare downs. Since it wasn't a matter of Graces safety or any sort of discipline, Danny knew who would break first.

"Okay," Steve said. "I'll go first. Then we can talk about this boy."

"I didn't say there was one." Another silence--another stare down, Danny was sure. "Okay, fine," Grace said, "you tell me, I'll tell you about the boy."

He heard the muted thud of tools being placed on the pad that went over the side of the car when Steve was working on it. "How did I know I loved your dad?" Steve said, sounding like he was contemplating the answer carefully.

"Is it that hard of a question?" Grace asked.

"No, I just--It's hard to explain. There are different ways to love someone, and sometimes when you feel them you don't even realize it for a while."

"Like what?"

Steve was silent for a moment. "I met your dad right here in this garage, did you know that?"

"No. What happened?"

Steve laughed. "We pulled our guns on each other." 

"Get out!" Grace yelled. "Seriously?" Steve must've nodded because she asked, "So what happened?"

"Well, obviously we didn't shoot each other, but by the end of the day we were partners. And we were sitting on the beach out back talking, and I felt something."

"Really? So it was like love at first sight?"

"It's not quite that simple," Steve said. "There's usually something--that spark, like I had that day--but you can feel that with a lot of people. That's not love. But it could be, in time."

Grace sighed. "So when did you know you loved him?"

"I was in another country," Steve said carefully, "and things went really badly, and I didn't think I was going to make it home again."

He paused and Danny couldn't help remembering the whole mess in North Korea, knowing something was wrong and not being able to do anything about it. It had nearly driven him crazy.

"I was thinking about my life, and my biggest regret was that I wouldn't get to say goodbye to Danno, or tell him how much he'd changed my life."

"And you knew you were in love with him?"

"No, but I knew I loved him. That he was someone special in my life. And people like that don't come along often, believe me."

"Okay, so at some point you must've figured out you were in love, right? Because you and he...."

Danny was glad he couldn't see whatever gesture she must've made, based on Steve's slightly scandalized, "Grace Williams!"

"I'm just saying...."

"Okay, okay. So you want to know when I actually knew I was in love with him?"

"Isn't that what I asked you last year, when this conversation first started?" Grace said, demonstrating just how much influence Steve had had on her.

Steve laughed. "Okay," he said, the laughter fading. "Remember your first Father/Daughter dance on the island?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that day we had a pretty rough case. And I wasn't sure your dad was going to make it for a minute or so."

"What happened?"

"That's a story for him to tell you," Steve said.

"You act like I don't know what you guys do," she grumbled.

And she did, but Danny wasn't sure he ever wanted her to know some of their closer calls, especially not the bomb. Knowing they were in danger was one thing--understanding the reality was something else.

"Anyway," Steve continued, "it was when I thought maybe, just maybe, there might be a chance that he wouldn't make it, that I realized I didn't know if I could live without him. I didn't want to live without him. And that's when I realized I was in love with him."

It was silent for a moment before Grace asked, "What did you do?"

"Nothing," Steve replied. "Tried to ignore it, tried to pretend it wasn't there."

"Why?"

"A lot of reasons. It's...complicated."

"And clearly that worked so well," she said, and Danny could hear her smile in her tone.

"Yeah, well, have you ever tried to ignore Danno?" Steve asked. "It's like ignoring a rock in your shoe."

Grace laughed. "Or a splinter."

"Or a paper cut."

When Grace went on, Danny realized this did not sound like the first time they'd played this game. He couldn't find it in him to be annoyed, though. He didn't want to be ignored. He'd made a point of getting noticed--he'd had to, or Steve would never have stopped trying to ignore his feelings and finally given in. 

"So," Steve said, after another comment or two about ignoring Danny, "about that boy of yours."

Danny crept silently away before Grace's boy story gave him a heart attack that gave away his eavesdropping.

\---  
END

**Author's Note:**

> Want to learn more about me and my writing? Visit my page at <http://www.jamiemeadowswrites.com/>


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